Stark Mad
by firewolfe6
Summary: The only reason a tiny girl, known only as Renegade, would EVER go back to H. I. V. E. is if she had no other choice. When Raven comes to take her and Tony Stark back to H. I. V. E., Renegade is curious enough to go quietly. Sorry, if you don't know anything about H. I. V. E, you won't understand about half of this.


"Hello? Who's there?" I sneaked around yet another corner in the warehouse maze of crates. The sound of heavy, panicked breathing continued.

"Where are you?" I could tell he- or she- was close. As I peeked around a particularly large crate, I saw-

"Tony Stark?!" He looked to be having a panic attack, so I walked over. Slowly, carefully, make sure he doesn't have a toy, I thought. "Quiet now, it will all be fine. You're safe enough with me," I told him gently, allowing a soothing lilt to creep into my voice, almost like I was singing. Eventually, his breathing slowed down, and he looked up. Something dark and dangerous flickered behind bright, dark eyes, just enough warning for me to scramble back and stand up. Stark did, too, and he towered over my hard-earned five-foot-two-inches.

"Who are you? What're you doing here? Do you know who I am?" He wasn't quite bellowing. I squeaked out nervously, "You're the Iron Man- you built the War Machine, and you fought the Chitauri in the battle of New York, I saw you." I added bitterly, "But if you'd known we were there, you'd kill us on sight."

At that moment, a muffled explosion made the floor vibrate like the inside of a drum, and I remembered why I was hiding.

The ruling Council was out for my blood.

Stark looked around, wide-eyed. I snatched his wrist and started running, dragging him behind me, saying, "You can protest later, but right now, I need to save your life, so please keep quiet," as I skidded dangerously around corners, towing a multi-billionaire behind me.

A rumbling BOOM shook the whole building this time, and I automatically sped up. Stark didn't think, he ran. His longer stride lent him speed, as I struggled to put distance-

BOOM! The explosion was closer, and much more powerful than the last two. Great job, you idiot. Just had to check FaceBook and send out a signal that even a dead bear could hear.

By now, we were right by the door, but a Shroud can hide anywhere. Invisible helicopters are difficult to see, but Shrouds are basically silent, too. There could have been an army, and we'd never know. Stark panted, "What- are we- running from? And w-who are you?" I couldn't run for my life and talk, so I shook my head and tugged him to the door. A tiny sports car waited outside, and he ducked in, motioning me to do the same.

I padded down marble stairs, feeling out of place with my badly cut brown hair and scruffy clothes. Everything seemed so clean and neat. I reached the basement and looked through clear glass panels to Stark's workroom, and got his attention by tapping on the glass. A stiff British accent told me, "You are not authorized to enter this area." I heard Stark mumble something about donating to a city college, as he swaggered across the room from whatever car he was working on. "Don't you know the code?"

"No, sir, I don't," I told him, and he frowned.

"Then what are you doing here?"

"Don't you remember? The warehouse, then you brought me here." For a moment he looked sad and confused, then he quickly masked it. "Right, JARVIS, let her in." The glass door slid open with a slight fiss of glass against sliders. In one corner, exercise equipment stood, looking well-used. On the far wall, facing the ocean outside, niches held the most iconic Iron Man suits, Mark 1, 18, and 45. In the center of the room stood a raised dais made of black stone. On the dais stood desks and what looked like computers, but were basically just panes of glass with different websites on screens. The JARVIS program projected an extensive search of one person- me. Stark slid back into a posh leather seat in a car that he had probably built himself. He gestured for me to sit in the passenger seat, so I sat down gingerly, trying not to dislodge too much dirt onto the pristine surface.

"Who are you?" He turned and looked at me, one eyebrow raised.

"If you can hack into SHIELD, they have a file on me and the school I go to. It's easier than explaining."

He nodded and said, "JARVIS, scan her face and conduct a net-wide search of the SHIELD database." As he spoke, a dull blue light beam swept around the room until it locked on my face. The beam divided into a grid, then the computer bleeped. "SHIELD secure file, HIVE file, access codes denied. Hacking code: sherlock: enabled. HIVE file contains three items; a picture, a link, and an article."

"Pull up the article. Read out the highlights," Stark said quickly. I could imagine a tiny man inside the powerful computer nodding and pulling levers and flipping switches.

"HIVE stands for the Higher Institute for Villainous Education. The headmaster of the boarding school, M. Nero, is also on the ruling Council of the Global League of Villainous Enterprises, or GLOVE. The location of the school is unknown. The curriculum is unknown. The school population is unknown. The students are captured at around age eleven, and are not released, even during the summer, for six years, until they graduate. The girl in the picture is known only as Renegade, and she has just recently completed her eighth year, as she was kidnapped at around age six. The girl you are sitting next to has escaped from HIVE, and is wanted by seven different countries as a spy. She is nearly fourteen, and everything she knows makes her akin to an atomic bomb, and just to ice the cake, she could assemble one in just under an hour. She is wanted as an agent for SHIELD," JARVIS added almost nonchalantly. I said bitterly, "No one should have final exams on silent killing."

"Well, that's over now. I'll have Pepper find someone to adopt you, unless you have a family already," Stark said as he strode over to a worktable covered in gold and bright red pieces of metal. I followed him, but I stopped short when I saw a short woman dart behind a suit. I recognized her immediately.

Her name was Natalya, or Raven. I knew her from HIVE. She was one of the combat instructors, and, as much as I liked her, I couldn't help but wish she was anywhere else in the world. I got over my shock and disappointment enough to say, "Raven, go away!"

Stark automatically whipped around, making a strange motion. One of the little pieces of metal lit up like a rocket and attached itself to Stark's hand. Two more rockets leapt up like bugs and spread like a rash. After a few moments, the Iron Man suit glared at me.

JARVIS must have been programmed to read facial expressions, because he said, "Close your mouth, you'll get dust in it when something explodes. Something always does when he puts on his suit."

Stark whined, "Not always!"

Raven looked at me blankly and drew her katanas. Raven's katanas were very special to her. They were made of plasma energy, and they had two settings: an unbreakable stick, and a light saber. I felt, more than saw, Raven switch the setting from her preferred method to the light saber. Two things happened almost at the same time. The wall facing the ocean exploded, making Stark disappear in a cloud of dust, and Raven caught a rock the size of my head in her ribs. She fell, probably hit her head, and stayed there. I ducked down until at least most of the dust settled, then jumped up and straggled over to Raven. She was sitting up, but she was paler than usual, a look of shock and pain on her face. She took a deep breath and let it out slowly. I heard her mutter, "I told the pilot to open the doors, so that's probably where Stark is."

"Actually, I'm still here, and I want to know what's going on," Stark said, suddenly rising out of the still-settling dust. "Who are you? Why can't you just knock, like every other ordinary person?"

"Because assassins never knock." She turned to me and said, "We need your help."

"What for?" I countered.

"Something was stolen, using GLOVE technology, and we need to get it back. Nero kind of lost it when he found out, so we were sent out on our first mission, looking for you and Mr. Stark. Thing is, everything is exactly where it belongs. Every last bit of armor, all the Sleepers, everything. Right where it belongs. We need you to help us find what was stolen and get it for ourselves."

I felt my anger rise. I forced myself to speak calmly. "Not my monkeys, not my circus. I'm not a villain. I never have been, and I probably never will be. I have spent the last four years trying to get out of that viper pit, and now you think I'll help you get your precious technology out of someone else's hands?" My voice had risen steadily, but then I cooled off. "Not on your nine lives."

"Internal hack detected," JARVIS said obliviously. "Running protective scripts now."All three of us turned to look at the dais, where a short boy with shockingly white hair stood. A taller girl with a honey-colored braid hovered behind him, and a slightly Asian-looking boy who was even taller than the girl had a hand on a second girl's arm. He was clearly holding her back.

I felt myself droop. The boy with white hair was Otto Malpense, and the honey-haired girl was called Laura Brand. They were both computer geniuses, and the other two were named Wing Fanchu and Shelby Trinity. Shelby was an astounding thief, and Wing could fight his way out of every situation life had thrown him so far. All four of these students were in my year at HIVE, and they were aspiring villains. Good ones, too.


End file.
